The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 equipped with 4G LTE is finally touching down at Verizon starting in just two days. It’s been a long time coming, but starting March 1, you’ll be able to pick up the premium tablet for $499.

What do you get for $499? Well, first there’s the much lauded 7.7″ Super AMOLED Plus screen with 1280×800 resolution, then you’ve got a 1.4GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 3.2MP rear camera (2MP front), and 16GB of storage, all contained inside of a sleek 7.8mm thick casing. This version of the Galaxy Tab also has that wonderful 4G LTE functionality that has proven time and again to be the speediest mobile data network in the ‘states.

The only show stopper? Verizon and Samsung indicate that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 will still be shipping with Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Given that the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), Galaxy Note 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) were all just recently announced with Android 4.0 Honeycomb on board this is somewhat of a disappointment. Given the bad track record of updates for Android products — if I was in the market for a new tablet I might just wait until an official date for the release of Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Tab 7.7 before making a purchase decision.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 was announced all the way back at IFA in September 2011. Since then, we’ve been watching carefully to see when the Tab 7.7 would make it stateside. The very last we had heard about the Galaxy Tab 7.7 release date was during CES 2012 in January when Verizon and Samsung said that the device would be arriving “in the coming weeks”. Wow, it’s been a long time coming! The $499 price point meshes well with our prediction from the other week, and unfortunately, so does the lack of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 is officially going to land on U.S. shores with a 4G LTE variant that will be carried by Verizon. It’s great to finally have this confirmation straight from Samsung/Verizon as it’s been a whopping 5 months since the Galaxy Tab 7.7 was announced during IFA in September 2011.

Since that original announcement, we’ve heard conflicting reports about Samsung’s plans for release in the US. At the end of September 2011, the Galaxy Tab was spotted rolling through the FCC, cementing our belief that it would eventually see a US release, however, months went by after the FCC discovery with no announcement from Samsung.

The Samsung Galaxy Note, which was announced at the same time, also had a relatively lengthy history of ambiguous US release plans. Recently, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Note would be hitting the US carried by AT&T.

Samsung and Verizon made the announcement that the 4G LTE equipped variant of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 would arrive in the US during CES. The announcement says that this will happen “in the coming weeks”, so we expect to hear more soon. Unfortunately, no Galaxy Tab 7.7 release date or price accompanied the announcement.

The Tab 7.7 is currently the most premium 7″ tablet on the market with a 1280×800 AMOLED screen, a 1.4GHz dual-core CPU, and now, 4G LTE connectivity. At 340 grams and 7.9 mm thick, it’s also one of the lightest and thinnest. The only thing it’s really missing is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though Samsung says they’ll update the Galaxy Tab 7.7 to ICS eventually. Currently the device runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb out of the box, and it doesn’t sound like it’ll see the ICS upgrade prior to its Verizon US debut. Thanks to these premium features, you can expect to pay a premium price when the Tab 7.7 launches on Verion. Given their current tablet lineup and pricing, I’d expect the 16GB version of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 to be priced between $500 and $600.

It’s interesting to note that Samsung has decided to launch the Galaxy Tab 7.7  on Verizon and the Galaxy Note on AT&T. I’m not sure if there’s a strategy to that move (it could just be to keep the carriers complacent with exclusives), or if it was just the roll of the dice. No word on this point if either device will go cross-carrier, but I suppose time will tell.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 was made official way back at IFA in early September. Since then, the premium tablet has been a hot topic (holding the #2 position in our mobile product database popularity rankings), especially considering the circumstances of its odd removal in the midst of IFA. It’s been months since then, and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is still not officially available, and it’s unclear exactly what regions it will be available in once a release date is announced. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been spotted in the FCC, so a US release is expected, eventually.

Importers have begun to list prices for the Galaxy Tab 7.7, and it looks like the price is settling around $650. Here’s a sample of Galaxy Tab 7.7 16GB WiFi prices that I’ve been able to find:

• Mobile City Online: $699
• Negri Electronics: $668
• Chat and Vision: $622

For a device featuring a 7.7″ AMOLED display, one of the fastest CPUs we’ve seen on such a device, and sizing up at only 7.8mm thick, I think we could call that price justified. Still, at $650, only those gadget lovers with money to spare will be able to pick up the Galaxy Tab 7.7. Anyone without a premium gadget-budget would likely be much more attracted to the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus, which can be had starting at $399.

But, there’s some good news. If we take a little trip down memory lane, we find that the original Galaxy Tab 7 had a suggested retail price of a whopping  â‚¬799 ($1023 USD). However, as Chippy realized, much of that was a buffer for Samsung to give their retail partners room to play. Chippy predicted that the street price would start at â‚¬700 then drop to â‚¬600 over the next three months, and that’s very close to what we actually saw. The Galaxy Tab 7 could afford to have such a big buffer because it was the first 7″ Android tablet on the market. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 doesn’t have the convenience of such exclusivity. Still, the importers are likely setting their Galaxy Tab 7.7 prices in accordance with a retail price suggestion from Samsung, which several sites are listing at $799. As with the original Galaxy Tab 7, I think we’ll see the Galaxy Tab 7.7 get a lower street price once the official release date is made (probably around $600), and drop to around $500 over the next few months. Much of this depends on how well the AMOLED display production scales.

Whatever the case, Samsung better hurry the Galaxy Tab 7.7 out the door before another company releases a substitute device and puts it on the market before the 7.7. They definitely don’t want to wait into February when iPad 3 rumors start cropping up.

CES is coming up in just a few weeks, and it’s likely there that we’ll hear more official info about the Galaxy Tab 7.7. Stay tuned for updates!

To see out latest Galaxy Tab 7.7 stories, click here.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 is one of the most hotly anticipated devices currently in the tablet sector. Despite being announced way back at the beginning of September, it is still not officially available; pricing and release date info about the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been quite hard to come by.

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During the IFA show where it was announced, Samsung literally removed the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from their displays; it’s been theorized that this had something to do with the Apple/Samsung lawsuit, but that’s not ever been confirmed as far as I’m aware. Presumably, the reason that the device was removed from IFA is the same reason why the Galaxy Tab 7.7 seems to have been in hiding ever since its initial unveiling.

Fortunately, Ritchie of Ritchie’s room is bringing the Galaxy Tab 7.7 out of hiding. He’s calling it the best 7″ tablet yet. At 340 grams and 7.9mm thick, Ritchie is very impressed with the weight and thickness, especially given the premium build-quality. He’s prepared a nice video overview of the Galaxy Tab 7.7, check it out here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzvLmTZrTOY

In addition to the video, Ritchie has a much more thorough inspection of the Galaxy Tab 7.7, along with some great photos, over at his blog. Go check it out!

Samsung Galaxy Note

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The curious case of the Samsung Galaxy Note, and it’s larger sibling, the Galaxy Tab 7.7, is one that we’ve been following closely. These two awesome devices were announced to great enthusiasm a few months back at IFA, but their official launch dates were left unspecified. Although I was put off by the Samsung Galaxy Note inititally, I must say that the idea of a pocketable device with accurate digital ink input is rather appealing, even if it wouldn’t work so well in one hand. The real issue, however, is how do we get our hands on one?

At the moment, the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 go completely without mention on Samsung’s US site. Back during IFA, GottaBeMobile reported some dubious news from Samsung — that the company had “no plans” for a US launch of these devices. Some have interpreted this to mean that Samsung didn’t yet have specifics nailed down for the region, and others think Samsung is saying outright that they won’t be launching in the US. Whatever the case, it’s clear that they are taking a regional approach to distribution of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7

In the US, it doesn’t seem like the Samsung Galaxy Note, or the Galaxy Tab 7.7, will be launching — not immediately anyway. I’ve got a good feeling that Samsung knows that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 would be good in the US, after all, the original Galaxy Tab is considered to be one of the best selling Android tablets to date, and it was widely available in the US. As for the Galaxy Note, it would seem as though Samsung doesn’t want to push it into the region so soon after they made a big deal about the Galaxy S II which has recently become available across all major US carriers. There’s also the Apple patent cases to consider.

While we can’t be sure that it’s any indication of availability, a brief survey of some of Samsung’s regional sites shows that the device is at least sufficiently featured on their Germany, Finland, Netherlands, and Denmark sites.

For those of us in the US, we’ll need to rely on importers until Samsung decides that it’s time to bring the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 to the US for an official launch.

Tech importer Expansys has both devices available for pre-order, but neither are likely to be cheap enough for anyone but extreme early-adopters and ultra-niche users. The Galaxy Note is currently listed by Expansys at a steep $945. Expansys has not yet announced a price for the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but is accepting pre-orders.

I’m hoping to see these prices come down some by the time they are actually shipping imported and unlocked units to US customers, but without official sales channels (and thus carrier subsidies), it’s going to be hard to push the prices down on these bits of top-end hardware.

A quick search for some other imports reveals cheaper prices, however, you should always do your research before buying an import!

• Mobile City Online – $699
• Cell Hut – $799

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab 7.7 was announced at IFA 2011 at the very beginning of this month. Many were excited to hear about the high density Super AMOLED Plus display and the 1.4GHz dual-core CPU. Given the excitement, and the popularity of the original Galaxy Tab 7 in the US, it’s surprising that we saw reports that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 might not become available in the US. Fortunately, we can now say with confidence that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 will be reaching US shores, thanks to the FCC.

Engadget dug up the FCC filing, and while not much detail is revealed, we can see some simple diagrams (click through to Engadget to see), along with the the logo that will be printed on the back of the device, which indicates that the particular model going through the FCC is WiFi-only. Separate testing will need to be done on a model that features WLAN connectivity.

The original report of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (and the Galaxy Note) not coming to the US came from GottaBeMobile. The information came from a Samsung representative who said that there were “no plans” for launching the Tab 7.7 (and the Galaxy Note) in the US. It’s understandable how this could have been interpreted as Samsung effectively saying that these devices wouldn’t be coming to the US, but it seems clear in hindsight that the rep was referring to the fact that US plans were not yet made, finalized, or otherwise ready to be commented on. Saying that there a “no plans” is a pretty silly way to say that if you ask me!

Miscommunication is never fun, but I’m happy that it was merely that, rather than Samsung actually deciding not to launch both the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note in the states.

Though the Galaxy Note hasn’t yet cropped up in the FCC, we’ve been expecting to see it in the US at some point, and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 filing gives us confidence that it will eventually become available in the region..

Sascha of NetbookNews joins Chippy to discuss something odd; Samsung is removing the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from the show floor.

As you know, Chippy is our man on the ground at IFA 2011, and he’s been keeping us up to date with everything that’s been going on at the show. He and Sascha got together briefly to theorize about what’s going on with the Tab 7.7, listen below:

Update: Slashgear has more info and photos of the covered-up Tab 7.7 branding:

As you probably know, Chippy is in the trenches at IDF as we speak type. In addition to a solid hands-on with the devices, he’s also doing testing and keeping us up to date with some audio logs. Let’s first have a look at the blazing speed of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 as indicated by the Sunspider benchmark:

As you can see, the Tab 7.7 scores a ridiculously fast 1440.4ms on Sunspider which actually beats out the Onkyo TW Windows Slate that I tested a few months back by about 27%.

This score, which is thanks to a fast dual-core processor and the latest build of Android, puts the Tab 7.7 at the number 1 position on our Sunspider benchmark chart:

Chippy faily notes that Chrome has improved in performance since then so just I ran Sunspider on a fairly modern Atom based netbook (1.6GHz HP Mini 311 with Nvidia ION) and the scores are comparable with the Mini 311 scoring 1336ms, putting the Tab 7.7 only about 8% away from that score.

This is mighty impressive; here we’ve got the Tab 7.7 which is rated for around 10 hours of battery life, not to mention much longer on standby, and it has browser performance similar to a much larger netbook that has considerably less runtime. Intel might be in trouble…

Chippy Chimes In

Chippy was able to make a little time to share with us a quick audio log with some thoughts on the Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note. I’ll let you listen for yourself, but I will say that I share many of his sentiments: